Week 19 of 52 Prayers of Faith - Faith is realizing there is nothing good in us apart from Christ

Faith is realizing there is nothing good in us apart from Christ - Lord increase our faith.

This can be hard for us to accept, because many of us think we are pretty good people. We think that we are kind and loving and have forgotten what we are/were really like apart from Christ. One look at children and you can see the worst of us. Our childhood memories are both wonderful and terrible all at the same time. In children we say there is innocence, but if we look a bit closer we can see the dark side of human nature. Children are natural liars, tattletales, they are selfish and greedy. Unless constrained by strong parental control, they can become tyrants who try to dictate to their parents how things are going to be.

There is a quote once attributed to Socrates concerning children of his age - "The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise."

I am not full convinced that all children are bad, but in our children we can see some of the worst of our society at times.

We have all worked for or with people who are "the worst" who cheat and lie and steal in the work place. We have all met bullies in school and in the work place who have made our lives miserable. These people I believe exemplify the Biblical text, in Romans 5:10 where Paul tells us that we were once enemies of God. In 1 Cor 6:9-11 he gives us a big long list of those who will not inherit the Kingdom of God and he goes on to say that many of his readers were these detestable people. But now in Christ they were washed and sanctified and justified in Christ Jesus. It is only through Him and by Him that we have any hope of pleasing God.

Faith demands that we accept and believe that we cannot please God in and of ourselves, because apart from the redeeming work of Christ on the Cross and entering into his baptism, we have no hope of doing anything good or right. If we believe that we are good enough we will never be able to accept Christ's saving grace and we will never be more than Pharisees convince of our own righteousness and therefore forever lost in our sin.

Lord, we know that apart from you we can do no good - Lord increase our faith

Week 17 of 52 Prayers of Faith - Faith is knowing that nothing can separate us from the Love of God

Faith is knowing that nothing can separate us from the Love of God - Lord increase our faith

I would like to remind you that this is not just a quick read, but an exercise to be practiced throughout the week.  Daily remind yourself of this biblical truth, converse with God about it and record this in a journal.

The evangelist responsible for the Gospel of John reminds us of God's love for us in Jesus' words, "For God so loved the world that He gave is only begotten Son..."  God loves humanity.  Which means that God loves you personally.  Christ didn't die on the cross just to satisfy the Father's need for vengeance.  Christ died on the Cross for our sins regardless of the gravity of our sins.  He didn't die for just the nice people, he died for everyone.  He died for sinners.  He died for those in jail.  He died for those living in sin.  He died to save us because we cannot save ourselves.  We can never be "good enough" to meet the requirements of God's Word, but God's Grace, the manifestation of God's love saves us from ourselves.

God loves us and hates our sin.  There is always the temptation on our part to think that God's love is conditional.  That somehow we can undo or we can cancel his love by our sinful choices.  We think this because this is how we treat others and/or this is how we have been treated.  But God is not like us.  He isn't petty or unforgiving.  While we tend to never let people forget how they failed us, God in his grace and mercy never reminds us of our sin, in fact God himself chooses not to remember our sin.

The Apostle Paul was so convinced of all of this that in his letter to Romans he tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God.  Now this doesn't mean we will be freed from the consequences of bad choices, but it does mean that we can never disappoint God so much that He will stop loving us.  God doesn't wink at our sin.  He is grieved by it.  But God loves us more than He hates sin.  So the next time you think you have failed God, confess it and run back to him.  Don't hold yourself away from him in shame, run back into his loving arms.  

Lord, thank you for your Love that never ends and transcends our shortcomings - Lord increase our Faith. 

Week 15 of 52 Prayers of Faith - Faith is knowing that God knows all the dark recesses of our hearts and still loves us

Faith is knowing that God knows all the dark recesses of our hearts and still loves us - Lord increase our faith

I find it interesting that we find in the very beginning of the Bible that there is sibling rivalry and murder in the first children born to Adam and Eve and by the 6th chapter we read "and that every inclination of the thoughts of their (humanity's) hearts was only evil continually." Yet already God had Jesus in mind in "God so loved the world..." that God provided away out of moral depravity.

Jesus didn't die on the cross because we were so deserving. Jesus died on the cross because we were in need of help and because God loved us so much. God loves us so much that He doesn't want to leave us in that mess. Not only has He paid for our sins, but He has made a way for us to have victory over sin. God did this because He loves us. "While we were yet sinners Christ died for us. God doesn't expect us to get it together in order for us to earn is love. He loves us even while hating our sin.

Faith in Christ's crucifixion and resurrection is foundational for us as Christians. We must believe that He died for us because of our depravity not because we deserved it. His love is what empowers us to love others. His love is what draws us to Him. He doesn't love us because we sin, He loves us in spite of our sinful inclinations.

Lord, thank you for loving us in spite of the darkness in our hearts. Lord, increase our faith.